Bubba

Anyone up for a couple hours of rding out of the Ham Cty/Cinti/NKY area? I'd be up for doing a loop of NKY in/around Boone Cty/Petersburg, maybe the 10/22 route out'a Alexandria, or heading west to Brookville/Metamora and back thru Oldenburg/Batesville on 229. Meet/leave from a rendezvous point about 9:00-9:30ish. Any interest? Post here or email icantdrive55@fuse.net

I'm NOT a regular poster here, but I do lurk on a semi-daily basis, so I guess I'm putting myself up for flamin'.... I'm kind'a surprised at all the hootin' going on among members about what is a purty simple topic: that of riding safely on a crowded high-speed public highway. I can think of a whole lot of arguments 'FOR' and not very many 'AGAINST'. That being said, here's a few points I wanna make: This forum is called Ohio-Riders, not 'Really-Slow-Newb-Streetriders' or 'Gnarly-Squids-Illegally-Riding-in-Private-Lots' or 'Super-Fast-Track-Racers-with-UltraMan-Leather-Suits'. 99.9% of us ride the majority of our yearly miles on urban/suburban streets at mostly legal speeds. Purty sure all of us try really hard to keep the rubber side down and the shiny side up so we can return to our wives/kids/SOs intact and unharmed. Absolutely sure we all face the same hazards together: cagers, stupid/inatttentive drivers, surfaces like asphalt, concrete, guardrails, and telephone poles that are way harder than our soft outer shell and inner skeleton that holds us togther. Also sure that when s--t goes REALLY wrong, we all suffer the same fate of grievous--and all to frequently, terminal--injury. Please note also that the OP was writing in the 'Daily Ride' column, not the Track- or Stunt-oriented column, so arguments for riding like ya stole it on the X-Way are kind'a silly. I'm gonna be 60 this October and I've been riding since I was 15. To be fair, I used to ride like a fool (even tho I might be a little faster now vs then) and am absolutely convinced that only extreme good luck and the Hand of the Almighty kept me from being a statistic when I was younger. I've owned two Harleys (found them to be nice cruising bikes, but way to heavy, too slow, and too expensive) and a s--tload of Jap bikes, ridden dirt/MX and broken 13 ribs and both collarbones and spent a week in the hospital in London, KY. I also like to ride fast thru the twisties, but find my personal speedometer seems to max out at about 25-over posted limits. I'd love to try track riding where I could enjoy the thrill of triple-digit speed without worrying about manholes, curbs, and little old ladies driving big white buicks, but I don't have the cubic cash to lay out for replacing hard parts if I fail/fall. Some of the older riders here may say "With age comes wisdom" while some of the younger riders will say my nutz have shrivelled and I'm a pussy. Fair 'nuff. I know I'm not as fast as I used to think I was... Anyway, a discussion is one thing we can all have, but getting personal with the insults over what seems to be/should be a non-debatable subject is a waste of electricity.

Did'ja remember to loosen the wheel adjuster nuts? If you have a lot of stress/strain on the wheel form a tight chain, it'll bind up the axle on the adjuster brackets. 'Course, I wouldn't think the chain should be THAT tight to begin with....

There's a new group site (Yeah, pretty small so far) @ cincinnatiriders.ning.com that I just joined. If yer feelin' friendly, send 'em an invite....or I will, if this is a more-the-merrier kind'a gathering. Haven't met up with any of 'em yet, but their pics say mostly cruiser types. 'sOK by me, since I detest tix from LEOs... I'll warn 'em of the whole sticky-name-tag thing. BTW, can my tag say F$%#tard? Or is that one already taken?

Sounds like yer on the right track. However, it'd be kind'a unusual that you would need to raise the needle. As the older slide carbs age, the needles normally wear and get loose with the years of vibration and flow more--not less--fuel. That being said, you sound like you know what yer doin' and if it looks lean in the mid-range, raising the needle (lowering the clip) might help. I still think I'd look for a partially clogged passage (I think you said you checked your float bowl fuel levels) or some other issue causing air infiltration behind the slides. How are your rubber carb mount boots? Check those by spraying either WD-40 or a solvent on each boot and see if you get a change in idle or smoke from the exhaust.

Not sure what kind'a carbs yer runnin' but if they're CV carbs, check the integrity of the slide diaphragms, looking for cracks in the rubber or leaks around the outer seal. If the diaphragm(s) is(are) leaking, you lose vacuum and the slide won't open normally as you crack the throttle, leaning your fuel/air mixture. If I was a guessing man, I'd look at the two carbs that weren't running rich first. Prolly the two cylinders that looked rich were carrying the load on acceleration. Some other things to check: if your carbs have squirters (most bike carbs don't) make sure they're working; re-check the orifices on your main jets for blockage. Edit: Also, check yer other vacuum hoses, crackcase breather hose, etc for cracks/leaks.

Not sure if there's a road of the same name near Dayton, but the only one I know of is on the westside of Cinti. It's actually split into two sections, due to the closing of an old, structurally unsafe bridge across the Muddy Creek yearas ago. The the only kind'a fun section is a very short piece (prolly less than a mile) that runs from Werk Rd to Ebenezer Rd. The last part of this section actually becomes Muddy Creek Rd from the point of the old creek crossing east to Ebeneezer. If you turn south on Ebeneezer, you will cross the next section of Devil's Backbone which runs southeast to end at Rapid Run. Hardly worth the drive from Dayton/Troy area to check out a short twisty....IMHO http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=devils+backbone+road,+45248&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Devils+Backbone+Rd,+Cincinnati,+OH+45233&gl=us&ei=Cre0S4qIJI74MJ7vqO8J&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CAkQ8gEwAA

Junkies: Thx for the outing today. It's been a few years since I've ridden 10 & 22, and had forgotten how nice the roads are. I did pass a KY State LEO on 22W just after I left you in Willow, but I was enjoying the sunshine and doin' the legal, so I waved at him and rode on. Hope you didn't run across him on your route.... If you guys do another ride locally, lemeno. I'd be up for it, especially if you plan on rollin' the throttle back just a bit so we can ride as a group. I don't mind bein' dropped occasionally, but it's nicer if there's some group interaction other than at the stops. Prolly see ya at Mid-Ohio later this year. Ciao. Ride well. Stay safe!

How long (time-wise) you guys ridin' today? I've never ridden with anyone from this group, but I'd like to do some riding today, and 10/22 is a nice place to start. How fast does the group ride? I'm OK with corners, but not into super-uber-legal speed limits. Prefer keeping the shiny side up..... Lemeno.